Stephanie Geraldine Lesslie Edith Gavilan Chino – Stephanie is a Chemical Engineer from Peru and Co-Director of Qochas Resilientes, an initiative that promotes nature-based solutions and traditional water management systems to strengthen climate resilience in Andean mountain communities. Her project was recognized as a winner of the MIT PKG IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge. She has recently been nominated by Peru’s Ministry of Environment (MINAM) to participate in the Climate Youth Negotiator Programme (CYNP).

Tata is an award-winning peacebuilder with over nine years of experience working in civil society, humanitarian action and community development. As coordinator at Mount Oku Center for Gender and Socio -economic empowerment (MOCGSE) in the Bamenda highlands in Cameroon, she supports self-reliance and resilience for women and girls faced with crisis, with focus on education, human rights, peacebuilding, environment and sustainable development. Her experience provides invaluable lessons from the African Mountains, showing community-led work in reforestation, gender-responsive agroecology, renewable energy, and livelihood diversification despite conflict challenges. Attending COP for the first time, she is excited to share the real experiences of mountain women, youth, and displaced communities from the Cameroon Highlands in international policy spaces, and to bring global knowledge back home for local use.

Originally from the US, Jacob is an international development professional and PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Hertfordshire UK. He works with government agencies, development banks, INGOs and research institutes to study public financial architecture alignment with the Paris Agreement & UNSDGs, international program design, and global community stewardship. In 2023, Jacob led the “Just and Sustainable Climate Futures: Stories and Solutions from the Mountains” event with Dr. Katie Kamelamela at the JustNorth Pavilion during COP28 in observance of UN International Mountain Day.

Biswash is an Indigenous researcher, policy practitioner, and international advocate from Nepal. He is the Founding Chairperson of the Institute for Indigenous Affairs and Development; Member of the Informal Advisory Group on Technical and Scientific Cooperation (2025-2027). Over the past 3 years, he has actively contributed to international policy processes under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including serving as a panelist at the CBD Article 8(j) side event during COP16 in Panama, presenting community-based monitoring and information systems (CBMIS) during SBSTTA-26, and delivering statements on behalf of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) at the Fourth Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 4).

Ernest is the traditional ruler of Oku in Cameroon. Mount Oku is the second highest mountain in West and Central Africa. Mt Oku is not only a geographic landmark but a living social-ecological system where culture, biodiversity, and livelihoods are deeply connected. Indigenous conservation laws are not only part of this cultural heritage but also practical, community-led solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable mountain development. As the traditional Indigenous leader of this region, Ernest is leveraging funding from multiple sources to supplement and sustain locally led solutions. He is committed to protecting this heritage through Indigenous conservation laws, community stewardship, and collaboration with global partners.

Denis is a PhD candidate at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany and an agricultural economist and climate adaptation researcher working with smallholder communities in Kenya. His research examines how climate risks and adaptation opportunities vary across gender, agroecological zones, livelihoods, and access to institutions. He brings an equity-focused perspective to discussions on adaptation finance, food-system resilience, loss and damage, and the design of interventions that reach communities whose needs are often overlooked in broad climate policies.